Friends

We have been friends together
In sunshine and in shade.

~Caroline Sheridan Norton

I am probably one of the luckiest people when it comes to having great friends.  I have several friends that I've known for in excess of 15 years and they have been with me through thick and thin; through hopes and dreams; through misery and despair; through joy and laughter.  My friends have become the extended family that I no longer have in my life.

Each of my closest friends came to me in a different way, through chance meetings and also as a triumph over circumstance.  Each of them have touched and enriched my life in different, yet powerful, ways.

I have friends that I know I can call without question when the fan starts to turn and the brown stuff is being flung.  I can phone one my closest friends just to say hello and spend an hour chatting whilst we do our housework (or more likely fondant fondling these days) together.  My husband wonders what on earth we find to talk about for that length of time.  We have shared holidays and almost live in each others houses.  We speak nearly every day and it feels strange if we don't connect at some point each day.  Another dear friend, who we now joke learnt to love me despite wanting not to even like me, has been with me through my really darkest moment and held my hand when I didn't know if I would ever stand up again. I'm not sure she will ever realise that she really did save my life that night.  I may not speak to her every day, or even every week at the moment (due to my currently falling asleep rather early in the evenings) but she holds such a special place in my heart and always will. I cannot imagine my life without her being a part of it.  I was so honoured (and terrified) to be entrusted with doing her hair and giving a reading at her wedding last year.

One of my friends has currently drifted away which has brought much soul searching and sadness in my heart because I considered her my soul sister and I'm still trying to reconcile how I feel about it. I am hoping that life will bring us back together and trust that we each just have to walk our own path for a while.  The bond that we shared for so long was so close and not having that in my life is a bit like losing a limb. 

My friends have held me up throughout all our pregnancies and miscarriages and celebrated when we finally became parents; loving my children almost as much as I do. One of my friends is the Guardian for our children and I know that they would be in safe hands if anything ever happened to me and she knows I would do the same for her.

I have two lovely friends that I have known for many years with whom I share a love of dancing. Sadly we're all having a break from our Mo-jiving, for various reasons, but we still meet up and chat regularly.  Each brings their own beauty into my life and I learn so much from them.  I can also see friendships forming in the next generation particularly with Katie and Pixie and I hope that they will share a bond throughout their lives.

I have other other people in my life that are newer friendships but bring great joy. I owe the addition of our two Maine Coons to my wonderful neighbour who is as cat mad as I am.  Our families have become good friends, our children adore each other, and our love of our furry little friends has given us a strong bond. I am so excited for her today because her first litter of long awaited kittens was born last night.  I have already popped over to have a little peek.

I am lucky to have many friends who share the journey of being adoptive parents. The "A Team" are the most wonderful group of people without whom I probably wouldn't have made it through our first adoption process with any degree of sanity.  We all meet up every year and speak daily to each other via the internet and phone.  We give each other so much support and have become close friends along the way.  Another friend I met through via a mutual work colleague after our first adoptions has become a close friend and we share regular walks in our favourite haunt, and inspires blog posts, and I hope we will be friends for a very, very, long time.

There are lots of other friends in my life. Friends who I chat to online.  Friends I meet for coffee and playdates who bring many happy memories. Friends who are important to me in so many different ways. New friendships that are developing and evolving.

I am an incredibly lucky lady to have so many wonderful women in my life and I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge how amazing they all are and how enriched my life is with them in it and to say thank you for their friendship and thank you for all the love and support you have given me throughout the years.

You all know who you are.......